They do not benefit the children. They are a measurement and count a lot towards a schools reputation and their Ofsted rating. But they don't do anything for the children, except perhaps get them used to the idea of formal tests?

They benefit the child because they ensure that the school is educating children to the required level. If that were not checked (like the old "secret gardens") then things can go awry (or at least they did in the past).

It helps make sure the herd is OK, andthe child benefits from being in an OK herd.

because senior schools are expected to make sure children make s many levels of progress, if a child does better at yr 6 sats they will be expected to perform better at GCSE. This may mean a secondary school is more likely to set them higher targets, push them harder or put them in higher sets.

My DD specifically benefitted as follows:- it gave her a clear goal to aim for (Level 4 in both).- she had the experience of 'official' exams when the results were not going to be life affecting- she had the sense of accomplishment having taken the SATs, a bit like a rite of passage- she had a confidence boost when she achieved her goals (see above). This stood her in good stead when she went to secondary

Disclaimer- my DD had been quite far behind part way through juniors so it was good for her to see that she was able to 'catch up'- my DDs school was sensible about SATs, no silly amounts of hw or practice papers, and no one getting stressed.

Before SATs it was very easy for school to tell you your DC was fine, when they weren't. Now they still tell you your DC is fine if they're going to get a L3, but you can work out for yourself that they're not fine.

Also, they now spend a lot more effort trying to get your DC to a 4 or 5. If there weren't SATs they wouldn't do this.

Plus Glaurung is right, your GCSEs targert will be set from this, so it does matter if you get a 4 or a 5.

If you child is a safe 4 or 5 it may be hard to appreciate this, but if SATs weren't there they wouldn't necessarily be the safe 4 or 5 they now are....

To follow on from Calicorose re children being 'fine'.Absolutely agree.

DD got 2b, 2c, 2c for Y2 SATs (I suspect somewhat optimistically assessed by poor achieving school). Changed school towards end Y3, kept being told all was 'fine', and progressing well at new school.End y4 DD was only a 2a in Maths. At that point I started doing some intensive work with her...